Boing Boing » originshttp://boingboing.net
Brain candy for Happy MutantsTue, 31 Mar 2015 18:00:17 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Great moments in pedantry: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?http://boingboing.net/2013/01/25/great-moments-in-pedantry-whi.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/01/25/great-moments-in-pedantry-whi.html#commentsFri, 25 Jan 2013 19:35:12 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=208376and partly about the fact that evolution is more like a curve than a stair-step.]]>and partly about the fact that evolution is more like a curve than a stair-step. ]]>http://boingboing.net/2013/01/25/great-moments-in-pedantry-whi.html/feed7Gomez's Hamburger: A great name for a starhttp://boingboing.net/2012/02/13/gomezs-hamburger-a-great-na.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/02/13/gomezs-hamburger-a-great-na.html#commentsMon, 13 Feb 2012 16:46:15 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=143646

Thanks to a tweet by Ars Technica's John Timmer, I was introduced this morning to Gomez's Hamburger—a delightfully named astronomical feature about 900 lightyears away from Earth.

]]>

Thanks to a tweet by Ars Technica's John Timmer, I was introduced this morning to Gomez's Hamburger—a delightfully named astronomical feature about 900 lightyears away from Earth.

The name is funny. But what makes Gomez's Hamburger worth posting about here is that it gives you a glimpse of a process you've probably only read about before. Scientists think that planets form out of clouds of gas and dust circling a star. Over time, bits of dust clump together into larger objects, which in turn collide and smush into even larger objects. Eventually, instead of a star sitting in a dust cloud like Pigpen from Peanuts, you've got a classy, mature star orbited by a series of planets.

Gomez's Hamburger is most likely a young star sitting in a dust cloud. The dust is actually the meat in this sandwich. The "buns" are actually light reflecting off of the dust.

Confused about what we do and don't know about the relationship between humans and Neanderthals? This video by Lynn Fellman will get you up-to-date on the basics—including some of the questions that haven't been answered yet.

]]>

Confused about what we do and don't know about the relationship between humans and Neanderthals? This video by Lynn Fellman will get you up-to-date on the basics—including some of the questions that haven't been answered yet. It doesn't cover everything, but it is a nice primer on recent research and how that research was done.